Planning on attending the final RSL match of the regular season? Join your fellow supporters as they travel from Salt Lake to the wrong side of the Rockies to watch the RMC finale v. the cRapids.
When?
Depart on the morning of Oct. 25th (Saturday), return Sunday evening.
How much?
$55 bucks (this includes bus fair and match ticket--hotel and food is extra)
You can email Ethan at primuscomics@gmail.com for any further questions.
Javi, Yura Rekindle Post Season Hope (Javier Morales nets a set-piece game winner at Buck Shaw Stadium and RSL earn three crucial road points)
Through Saturday evening, Houston leads the Western Conference with 40 points; Chivas is in second with 36; and Colorado and Salt Lake are tied for third place with 34. Colorado holds a tie-breaker over Real, but if the playoffs began now RSL would claim a wild-card spot ahead of DC United.
Yet with its playoff life perhaps hanging in the balance and a painful history of last-minute meltdowns, RSL never wavered against the hottest team in the league. After a furious 90 minutes featuring all manner of pushing, shoving, kicking and name-calling, it confidently finished off a stunning 3-2 come-from-behind victory that allowed it to keep pace in the pursuit of its first Major League Soccer playoff berth. "We said before the game, this is our season," defender Nat Borchers said.
"When we (went) ahead 2-1 we really should have tried to kill the game off a bit more, and we didn't,'' he said. "I think we tried to be a bit too gung-ho. We've got to try and have more of an English mentality. You wouldn't have seven-eight-nine guys pushing up in the box trying to score a goal. You'd have six-seven-eight men back defending. Maybe we got to start doing that a bit more."
Nick Rimando stopped three shots for Real Salt Lake (9-10-7), which moved one point ahead of idle Chivas USA (9-10-6) for third place in the Western Conference.
Real Salt Lake came into the match with the worst road record in MLS, having earned just five points in their first 12 matches away from home (1-9-2). San Jose, on the other hand, was the hottest team in the league, unbeaten in their last nine matches. But Real prevailed in a hard-fought contest that featured a goal in each half from both Yura Movsisyan and San Jose's Darren Huckerby.
MLS Quote Sheet...
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES 2 : 3 REAL SALT LAKE SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 BUCK SHAW STADIUM – SANTA CLARA, CALIF.
Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jason Kreis
On the win:
“I’m very proud of the group; it’s been a long time coming. We’ve played good soccer for a lot of games in a row and we haven’t gotten good results. But tonight, I would say it wasn’t the best soccer game, but it was always going to be a battle and I’m glad to see our guys know how to battle.”
On MF Javier Morales’ performance:
“He’s been fantastic. He’s one of the players I hoped would take on the challenge and tonight he did. He created that first goal off an unbelievable pass so for me, hats off to him.”
Real Salt Lake Forward Yura Movsisyan:
On the game:
“We knew coming in it would be a battle and we needed come here and fight. We showed a lot of character today and obviously, we put our chances away.”
On the playoffs:
“We’re fighting for a playoff spot, and so are they (San Jose). No game is going to be easy from here on out and we need to keep fighting like we did tonight.”
San Jose Earthquakes Head Coach Frank Yallop
On the game:
“Obviously a disappointing night for us. I thought the best team won tonight. Real Salt Lake played very well and deserved to win to be honest.”
On having last weekend off:
“We looked sluggish. I hate to make an excuse, but we didn’t look our best maybe that was one of the reasons. We go 2-1 up at home, you would think that after our last nine games we would know how to see games out and do things well, but we were a step short and our passing was not good. But, they played well as a unit.”
On the run to the playoffs:
“We have been playing very well and getting results against good teams. A tie would have been fine with us, but they get three points up on us, which is difficult. We have a tough game coming up in Dallas and if we can go to their place and get a result then everything is wide open again.”
Earthquakes Goalkeeper Joe Cannon
On game:
“To be honest, I thought we got outplayed tonight. It felt like they out-shot us, out-possessed us, won more second balls, and they wanted it more I guess. Today’s results make Thursday’s game (at FC Dallas) a must-win game.”
On result:
“It’s disappointing, but what can we say? It was a good run we had, and I’m highly disappointed. I think this game was the worst we’ve played as a defensive unit all year long, especially at home. It hurts because I think our fans were getting excited and into this playoff chase, and now we have to do the business away from Buck Shaw.”
Earthquakes Midfielder Darren Huckerby
On his goals:
“It was great to get goals tonight, but they don’t count for anything. We weren’t good enough today. At 2-1 we’ve got to win the game. Then we got sloppy.”
On defending a lead:
“At 2-1 you do not want seven, eight, even nine players pushing on to score another goal. You need six men staying back and defending. Keep five men back, keep the four in the back-line back, and have them struggle to score another goal. This is just unacceptable; we have to be better than that.”
Home is where the Heart is... (RSL train for the first time in their new stadium)
Boz Photos: Stadium/Training 9/23/08
Boz's RSL Stadium Slideshow 9/3/08...
Boz Note...
If anyone out there fancies a specific photo that I've posted in the past, or perhaps a specific player, just drop me a line and I will email you the raw shot--for Free-Fifty-Free.
Just tryin' to spread that RSL love one photo at a time.
